


Hand Covers Bruise, Reprise

by Paxton



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:39:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7048153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paxton/pseuds/Paxton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin was never just someone he liked or someone he trusted. Erwin was someone he needed. Erwin was a piece of him that kept him on his feet; kept something there for him to live for. A bond so strong no one ever thought it would be separated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hand Covers Bruise, Reprise

A part of him is missing now.

Erwin was never just someone he liked or someone he trusted. Erwin was someone he needed. Erwin was a piece of him that kept him on his feet; kept something there for him to live for. A bond so strong no one ever thought it would be separated.

Erwin always thought less of himself, and you could tell that by the way he looked into the sky sometimes. He branded himself a murderer. He labelled himself as someone who just sent out people to die, like he was just another object in the wind; flowing wherever he could go and getting nowhere. Levi would slap reality onto him, always a little rough but he understood the way Erwin worked.

Levi falls to the ground, hard. He can tell he did something to his shoulder, as there was already blood on him so there was no way to know if he was bleeding. Pain doesn't happen on the battle grounds, so Levi scrambles through bodies with his eyes wide in horror; just trying to find that one body.

“Levi!”

It's a pained called that's too obvious to ignore. Levi's feet react faster than his brain does, and he finds himself hissing in pain as he tries to run to the pained voice calling out to him, “Levi!”

Levi scrambles, and he knows he's losing himself with the amount of pain he's feeling but he doesn't care. He can now spot Erwin, holding himself with the one hand he has left. He's bleeding through his fingers, a sign that he had hit himself hard.

“Erwin.” Levi says, and it's not the usual calm tone that Levi has, it's shaky and full of fear. He's shaking like a small animal and can't help himself.

“Hey,” Erwin smiles, but it's not comforting. He shifts in pain, trying to look at Levi as much as possible. It's difficult for him to move his body, "is he gone?”

Levi is busy taking his cape off to bundle it and place it on Erwin's side where there's a hole. It's obviously been bleeding for a while, so Levi is shocked Erwin isn't dead at this rate.   
Erwin's voice is gravelly as he repeats himself, “Is he gone, Levi?”

“I made a promise.” Levi nods his head, eyes like a deer in headlights.

“I knew you could do it.” Erwin speaks, taking in as deep as a breath as he can before speaking again. “Levi, you're a strong man, you know.”

“Don't you fucking start this.” Levi snaps, his thin eyebrows furrowing. “You are not dying on me. So don't go on with a death speech!”

“You stubborn bastard.” Erwin scoffs as he leans his head back against the ground, his breathing getting more scattered by the second. And he hadn't even done anything; he'd just been laying there for who knows how long.

“Stop acting like I don't know what's going to happen.”

Levi's jaw clenches, and tears feel like flames in his eyes. His hand is pressing the cloth against the wound, and the other is brushing the hair out of Erwin's face.  
“I don't want it to happen, Erwin," he chokes, "I need you.”

Blue eyes turn sad, looking into a pair ones that are watered with tears being pushed back. Levi's clutching tightly, pushing himself against Erwin as much as possible. Erwin stares in awe, as this was the man who hadn't cried for years, who hadn't shown any kind of emotion since his friends had passed.

“Erwin, you're all I have left," Levi admits,"and I can't lose you as well. I can't, or I'll have no one.”

Levi leans his head down where it brushes against Erwin's chest, tears finally falling like that of a rainstorm.

Erwin reaches his hand up to put it on Levi's head; his fingers lacing through his hair for a second before he pulls it away and reaches it under Levi's chin.

“This isn't like them, this isn't like anyone else. You can say goodbye this time.”

Levi shakes his head frantically. He can't deal with this, his brain won't allow the words to go through his ears; they block it out too quickly. Sometimes, Erwin forgets that Levi may be strong, but there are parts of him that never learned how to deal with. He was raised on the streets, and he still had his childish demeanor sometimes.

There's a sob that escapes Levi's throat as he begs, “Please don't leave me yet.”

“Levi what is there to hold onto of me?" Erwin lets out between his teeth as he looks up to the sky, tears rolling down his cheeks. "You need to get to the basement!”

This is what he's been spending his whole life doing, talking about how there was "the answer in the basement". But there had to be.

“I'm nothing, Levi, I am only a small fragment to this world.”

Levi holds onto Erwin tighter as he hears the words, yet this just all seems like a dream at this point. It feels like he would wake up and he'd laying be next to Erwin in bed with the light shining through their window; with a happy world outside. No titans. No blood.

“Sometimes, fragments come together to form something more.”

Erwin starts coughing, and almost everything in his body hurts. His chest doesn't even feel like it can expand anymore. Erwin almost wishes that Levi wouldn't have gotten so attached, and that this wouldn't have happened, but regardless, he was right. They had come together to form a superior team in a way. Levi was always the one with stealth, and he could slice a titan so fast you wouldn't see it if you blinked. Erwin always had the ideas, and even though they were stupid, Levi stood next to him through every moment of it.

“Stupid old man.” Levi puts his hand on the side of Erwin's face, and begins running his thumb softly against the corner of Erwin's jaw. Levi had no other output but a stupid comment in attempts to make the situation better. He places his forehead on Erwin's, closing his eyes.

“You're not dumb. You're one of the smartest men I've ever known. You're brave, and you're by no means an evil man. I'm so sorry you've had to go through this.”

“Levi I'm not going to make it much longer.” Erwin's voice is one filled with pain, and Levi can feel his stomach drop. Erwin's voice finally cracks, his hand holding tight onto Levi's thin, boney shoulder. “I understand I need to die, Levi. Why do you think I did what I did?”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Levi shouts, making Erwin's ears ring with the sounds of more cries. And Erwin feels all he can do is hurt people. This almost proves it to him as he can hear Levi sobbing above him.

“Levi.” Erwin's voice would be harsh if he wasn't as weak as he is now. “All I do is hurt people. All that is around me are shattered hearts and broken bones! You don't understand the screams and cries I hear in my dreams, Levi, and it's haunting me and I can't do anything about it!”

Levi realizes - it has nothing to do with this situation, it had more to do with Erwin's low self esteem. The fact that dying wouldn't be a bad thing for him, at least in his mind. To Levi though, his knuckles are clenched onto Erwin, and his grey eyes only show fear.  
“No, Erwin, I don't know.” Levi shakes his head, at the moment all he can think about is how he doesn't want to lose the man in front of him. Levi's brain is numb with how much it's overworking itself.

“You have to be able to get up, Erwin, we're so close to finding what we need." Levi pauses. "Come on!”

The worst thing that could happen happens. Levi can see Erwin's eyes become clouded over, and it's like watching someone get sick so fast you can't stop it. His body is failing him now; everything feels like it's caving in. Erwin can feel himself fading now, even if the basement was only a little bit further, he still wasn't going to make it.  
“I'm so sorry Levi.”

“No!” Levi yells, his deep voice rings through the empty air. "Don't you fucking fail me now!”

Erwin's hand comes to the back of Levi's head; bringing Levi close to his face. His blue eyes are no longer bright, but much much duller than they've ever been. What once was the sun shining in the sky had been clouded over.   
Levi can tell that it's hard for Erwin to breathe. Whatever happened with the wound must have done something to his lungs.

“Levi you are the strongest right now, alright? You'll know what to do.”

Levi feels like he's about to puke, his gut raising into his throat.

“Erwin, I'm only strong because of you. What do you not understand about that?”

But it's to late now; he's bled out too much, and Levi feels like a blanket has been ripped from him. He's cold, and there's nothing there to protect him from the creatures of the world. He's right back to who he used to be: a little boy ripped from anything and everything that was there for him, like a stray kitten.

Tears fall from his eyes but his chest rises like nothing.

“No you're not dead, you're not!”

If it were anyone else, Levi would have just passed it by like it was nothing, say a prayer, and maybe comfort the person who was dying. Erwin didn't even get that, he didn't even get to die knowing how much Levi cared. Levi's hands still lay on Erwin's chest, but there's no rising and falling underneath his pale fingertips which are burnt and scorched with the death of titans. Levi falls to the ground against the body whose eyes are now staring blankly off into the distance.

Levi reaches up and pushes Erwin's eyelids down, laying next to the body who no longer had the spirt it once had; ho was now an empty vessel. Levi can't get up, even if he knows Erwin is dead he doesn't want to face the truth, and he keeps pushing it back hoping that Erwin will take a breath once more. But all that comes is Levi's messy sobs.

“Levi!” He can't tell where the voice is coming from, but he feels hands shaking him somehow. “Levi!”

Levi feels like he's time-travelled when he opens his eyes.

Was that all a bad dream? Was it all a stupid dream that made him feel like he was losing his damn mind? More importantly, there was Erwin standing above him, his blue eyes panicked.

“Levi?" he says. "Levi, are you okay?”

Levi doesn't believe his eyes.

Erwin?

Erwin is leaning over him, holding his shoulders.

At last, Levi chokes, “Erwin? Is it really you?”

“Yeah, Levi.” Erwin's hands travel up to Levi's face. “Did you have the same dream?”

"You had it again as well?"

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank Odd-bot on Tumblr for correcting a lot of mishaps on this works, she was a big help. I hope you all enjoyed!


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